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Fancy a drink of Slivovitz, served by Balkan gypsy brass kings Boban i Marko Markovic, to celebrate the start of Euro 2012?

Fancy a drink of Slivovitz, served by Balkan gypsy brass kings Boban i Marko Markovic, to celebrate the start of Euro 2012?

The best of legendary Balkan Gypsy Brass Kings Boban i Marko Markovic, selected by DJ Robert Soko, inventor of the international BalkanBeats party movement. Fifteen boisterous dancefloor tracks, including a previously unreleased bonus remix of “Go Marko Go” by DJ Robert Soko and “Od Srca” as featured on the soundtrack of Angelina Jolie’s film “In the Land of Blood and Honey”.

***DJ Robert Soko will be DJing at BalkanBeats London on Saturday, 16 June, at The New Empowering Church, full info below – please contact me for interview requests.***

Boban Markovic and his son, prized protégé Marko, have managed the nigh-impossible: Leaping from a deeply rooted Roma (Gypsy) scene in Serbia, they have ignited hip club dancefloors, innovating effortlessly and integrating everything from jazz to disco in brilliant, organic ways. They sound authentic, yet utterly fresh. Combining the absolute flexibility of Miles Davis and the cool funk of Herb Alpert, the Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar has found the funkiest expression of their Southern Serbian Roma roots.

Golden Horns offers the perfect summary of the Markovics’ stunning career, with tracks that reflect their dancefloor-friendly best. “As a DJ, I’ve had nearly twenty years to see the reaction Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar get from the crowd,” explains album compiler and Berlin-based, Bosnian-born Balkan beatologist, DJ Robert Soko (BalkanBeats). “Tracks like “Khelipe e cheasa,” “Od Srca,” and “Mundo Chochek” simply kick a**. They get people dancing like crazy.” Now fans and new listeners can join the party with classic cuts, from the hard-hitting, almost Latin-inflected “Sljivovica” to an aching live version of “Ederlezi,” a deeply moving song beloved from Balkan bars to the silver screen (thanks to Emir Kustarica, who featured Boban in his groundbreaking film Underground). The greatest-hits collection features two swinging remixes, “Go Marko Go” by Soko and “Cinnamon Girl” by {dunkelbunt}, adding another layer to the already rich sonic heritage of the Markovics.

Markovic the elder, from the small town of Vladicin Han, burst onto the European music scene and became the spark that lit thousands of fires. After stunning performances on stage and on film, he became the inspiration for a vibrant scene that stretched around the world: DJs, musicians, and fans who became delightfully addicted to the intricate yet grooving sounds of Balkan brass.

Far from resting on his laurels, Boban has built on his decades of experience by harnessing his 24-year old son Marko’s youthful vibe – an energy sustained by marathon practice sessions and a lifetime spent with dad on stage. As a kid, Marko put in ten hours a day at home with his horn, a practice that drove Boban so crazy he finally insisted his son stand and deliver with the Orkestar. The determined, then fourteen-year-old Marko played so perfectly, he soon became a fixture in the group.

But Marko has done more than merely play along. Together, Boban and Marko Markovic are expanding the idioms of gypsy brass: Marko can rap with spot-on precision, and the Orkestar can hint at disco, salsa, or the wilder edges of jazz. All while keeping true to tradition: the lightning-fast melodies, driving rhythms, and exuberant transcendence of the greatest Balkan brass bands.

From the pulsing, lithe “Sina Nari” to the band’s wonderfully celebratory rendition of “Hava Nagila,” Golden Horns shows why Boban, Marko, and company have managed to make Balkan brass a whole new, hip genre from Vienna to Brooklyn, while still remaining true to the centuries-old sounds of generations of Romani musicians.

“They are an authentic Serbian brass band who reinterpret traditional pieces and play their own compositions in a listenable, danceable manner. They are just so good at conveying the beauty of Southeast European music, and making it palatable for Western audiences,” Soko reflects. “At the same time, they are constantly experimenting with other musical genres―jazz, soul, classical, or even disco―melting various elements together and producing a new sound of their own.”

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Balkanbeats London on 16 June

Get your fix of DJ Robert Soko, Balkan Madness and rakia (and possibly “Sljivovica”) on Saturday, 16 June, at BalkanBeats London, taking place at the New Empowering Church, 1a Westgate Street, London E8 3RL (just off Mare Street and London Fields).

Boban Markovic was born on May 6th, 1964, on the day of Saint George, the most important gypsy festival day of the year in Vladicin Han, South Serbia, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, most of whom are of Roma gypsy heritage and share a rich musical tradition.

Boban’s father, Dragutin, was a musician, as were both of his grandfathers. Boban’s mother, Julka, used to remind him that he should strive to play as well as her own father.

He got his first trumpet when he was 5 years old, but Boban didn’t approach the music seriously until much later. Rather, he preferred to play with other children around the village, and once he even forgot his instrument in the sand while he was building a castle with his friends.

Growing up, Boban preferred to play soccer and his greatest desire would have been to become a professional player. His father wasn’t happy with his inclinations, and had a serious talk with Boban when he was 10 years old, to tell him that his destiny was to be a trumpet player. Thus, Boban started to play at his father’s concerts and the marriages where the orchestra performed. He was obliged to play until he was exhausted.

By the age of 20 he founded his own orchestra and was ready to compete at the Guca festival, the most important brass band competition in former Yugoslavia every year since 1961. There isn’t a bigger satisfaction for a Serbian player than to become the “first trumpet” of the Guca festival. Boban started to take part in the Guca competition in 1984 and succeeded in winning the “first trumpet” so many times that he was asked to stop competing in 2001. In 2006 he was nominated Ambassador of the Guca competition, becoming one of the most important personalities of Balkan brass band music.

His collaboration with film director Emir Kusturica and Balkan composer Goran Bregovic for the soundtrack of the movies Underground and Arizona Dream earned further acclaim. Together with his Orkestar he has truly conquered the world on his never ending tour to show who is the best brass band on the planet. His father Dragutin was right: Boban’s destiny was to be a trumpet player. A brilliant one. The king.

Marko Markovic was born on February 29th, 1988. He spent his childhood with his mother Lidija, and his sister Tamara, while as a musician Marko’s father Boban was rarely at home, spending just a little time with his family. So when Marko at the age of 5 started to dedicate all of his afternoons to his trumpet passion his very first teacher was his grandfather Dragutin, who was also his father’s teacher.

Each time Boban went away, Marko was left behind sitting outside in the yard, playing alone and dreaming to follow his father, who had never seriously attended to his son’s musical talent until Marko was 12 years old. One day, Lidija, Boban’s wife, forced him to dedicate a little time to listen to the musical virtuosity of his son. The result was that Boban was so completely astonished by Marko’s skills, that in the end he gave him a composition to be arranged, and sent him directly to a recording studio.

When he was 14, Boban came home one day and told Marko to pack his bags and join the Orkestar. There was absolutely no need to rehearse; Marko already knew the scores by heart. He fully joined the never ending tour in May 2002. Over the years, Boban has become more and more fascinated by Marko’s technique and his passion for the music and for composition; so much so that he decided to give him full control of the Orkestar, as a gift for his 18th birthday.

In addition to his musical career with his father, Marko has branched out into screen acting, playing the main character in the movie Gucha! The Distant Trumpet, directed by Dusan Milic and co-produced by Emir Kusturica, writing as well the soundtrack of the movie that received a nomination for European film award for best original music score. He has also intensely collaborated with musicians like Shantel live on stage and on the albums Disco Partizani and Planet Paprika, with the trumpet players Roy Paci from Italy and Frank London from New York on their Trumpet Triumph tour, and with Miss Platnum from Berlin on her album The Sweetest Hangover, while never stopping to tour with his father and their family Orkestar all around the world.